Framework Of Historical Institutionalism Research Articles

How is Educational Equity Possible: The Evolutionary Logic of Compulsory Education Enrollment Policies from the Perspective of Historical Institutionalism

The enrollment policy for compulsory education concerns the right of school-age children and adolescents to receive equal education, as well as the realization of educational equity. Based on the analytical framework of historical institutionalism, this paper examines the evolutionary logic of the enrollment policy for compulsory education. Since the founding of New China, China's enrollment policy for compulsory education has undergone four periods: efficiency priority, balancing efficiency and fairness, emphasizing fairness, and implementing fairness, reflecting a shift in policy value orientation from efficiency to fairness. Economic system reform, uneven regional development, and the concept of educational equity are the underlying structural factors influencing policy changes. Rational choices made by actors such as the government, schools, and parents have led to path dependence in policy changes. Reform and opening up, initial education reform, and comprehensive reform in the field of education have become three critical junctures in promoting policy changes. We should always adhere to educational equity as the policy value goal, seek to break through path dependence at critical junctures, and focus on the coordination of multiple subjects in the gradual development of policies, in order to better achieve educational equity.

Weak party system institutionalization and autocratization: evidence from Tunisia

ABSTRACT Why do party systems remain weak in transitioning countries in ways that can hamper the democratization process? We answer this question through a case study of Tunisia, which was the only success story of the Arab uprisings. Tunisia has experienced a process of autocratization since President Saied's presidential coup in 2021. Utilizing a historical institutionalist framework, we conducted interviews with 15 leaders from the major political parties. We find that, in contrast to conventional wisdom, the strong party institutionalization under authoritarian rule did not lead to an institutionalized party system after authoritarian rule ended. We attribute this dynamic to the inability of regime-successor parties to institutionalize, perpetuating democratic vulnerabilities inherited from authoritarian rule. We also find that too-powerful civil societies can be detrimental to transitions. The labour union, UGTT, acted as a de facto veto player and limited the ability of cabinets to implement reforms. Furthermore, leftist parties could not benefit from the UGTT's base. The 2011 revolution was a critical juncture that could have facilitated the establishment of an institutionalized party system. However, the political elite's institutional choices put additional challenges on parties. The weakness of the party system in turn contributed to President Saied's self-coup and dismantling of Tunisia's democratic institutions.

Investigating the development of narratives in directors' reports: an analysis of Barilla over six decades

PurposeThis research explores how contextual elements and significant events influence the changing storylines within a company's directors' reports spanning a period of six decades. These elements and events encompass the internal dynamics of the family that owns the company, industry-specific advancements, political and socioeconomic climates, and explicit guidelines related to corporate reporting.Design/methodology/approachThis research employs a case study methodology to analyse the directors' reports of Barilla, a prominent Italian food manufacturer, within the theoretical framework of historical institutionalism. A systematic content analysis is conducted on sixty directors' reports published between 1961 and 2021. The study also identifies and examines significant contextual events within this six-decade period, which are linked to four key institutional factors.FindingsBased on the research findings, the directors' reports exhibited notable fluctuations throughout the studied timeframe in reaction to shifts in the institutional setting. Our investigation highlights that each institutional element experienced crucial pivotal moments, and given their interconnected nature, modifications in one factor impacted the others. It was noted that these pivotal moments resulted in alterations in the directors' reports' content across various thematic areas. Additionally, despite Barilla being a multinational company, it was found that national events within Italy had a more pronounced influence on the evolving narratives than global events.Originality/valuePrevious research on directors' reports or chairman's statements has primarily focused on the influence of macro-level institutional factors on the narratives. In contrast, our study considers both macro-level and micro-level institutions, specifically examining the internal events within a family business and how they shape the content of directors' reports. Our study is also distinctive in its analysis of specific critical junctures and their interactions with the investigated institutional factors. Additionally, to the best of our knowledge, few existing studies span a timeframe of sixty years, particularly concerning an Italian company.

Inside the European Union's Trade Machinery: Institutional Changes in an Age of Geoeconomics

AbstractIn the context of increasingly assertive behaviour in international trade policy, various scholars seem to agree on the presence of a ‘geoeconomic turn’ in European Union (EU) trade policy. Whilst various aspects of this turn have been studied, the way in which the EU's trade institution might have adapted to this new context remains unclear. Therefore, this article addresses the following research question: how has the Directorate‐General for Trade (DG Trade) adapted to the geoeconomic turn in international trade policy? Using an innovative historical institutionalist framework and directed content analysis, the article analyses EU official documents and 14 interviews with EU officials. We find that, despite apparent continuity, under President von der Leyen, a gradual process of institutional adaptation through different forms of layering and conversion has taken place within DG Trade, increasing the EU's geoeconomic capacities and geoeconomic thinking inside the EU's trade machinery.

From NGEU to REPowerEU: policy steering and budgetary innovation in the EU

ABSTRACT European Union (EU) budgetary politics are considered a stable domain of EU policymaking. Yet, the creation of the pandemic recovery plan NextGenerationEU (NGEU) marked an important innovation. Then, in the face of Russia’s war against Ukraine and the EU’s energy crisis, member states adopted REPowerEU to accelerate the Union’s ‘green’ transition. Developing a historical institutionalist framework, we theorize the driving forces behind these new budgetary instruments. We see a double-dynamic at work: on the one hand, sudden events or crises, like a pandemic or war, create momentum for institutional and policy innovation. On the other hand, the new instruments build upon, and further stimulate, established patterns of EU budgetary politics. Empirically, we document that the concepts of ‘layering’ and ‘conversion’ capture best the EU’s financial responses to the pandemic and the energy crisis. Together, the EU’s new tools suggest gradual, though decisive, steps towards supranational policy steering through the budget.

Frontrunners vs Free Riders? Mapping the Institutional Implementation of Human Rights Due Diligence in France and the Netherlands

This paper analyses the institutionalisation process of human rights due diligence (“HRDD”), from its origins as an international soft law doctrine into national hard law. The paper offers a comparative overview of the implementation process of HRDD in France and the Netherlands, with the aim to understand how and why institutional change took different forms in the two jurisdictions. The analysis applies the theoretical framework of historical institutionalism in order to understand the nuances of institutional change and assess whether this is a tale of frontrunners and free riders.

Historical trajectory, logic of change and dynamics of the regulatory system for ground floor stalls--Based on a historical institutionalist perspective

The regulatory system of street stalls is an important part of China's street governance system, which plays a pivotal role in the country's economic development and social stability. Based on the analytical framework of historical institutionalism, by analyzing the historical trajectory of the change of China's street stall regulatory system, it is found that it presents a double logic of change in terms of the mode and process of change, and that its power mechanism consists of the synergistic interactions among stakeholders, social values, the institutional environment, and the institutional system. Reflecting on the past and looking forward to the future, in order to promote the long-term sustainable development of the stall regulation system and make it enter a virtuous cycle of institutional change, it is necessary to further strengthen the concept of people-oriented management, innovate the management mechanism, and promote the combination of stall regulation and artificial intelligence.

The Change of Public Health Emergency Policy in China: Course, Logic, and Prospect

With the frequent occurrence of various public health events, systematic analysis of public health emergency policies is urgently needed. Based on the historical institutional framework, it can be found that China's public health emergency policy has experienced four stages: slow start, rapid development, gradual adjustment and comprehensive improvement since the founding of the People's Republic of China. From the perspective of deep structure, economic level, social governance concept and scientific and technological development affect the evolution of public health emergency policy; From the perspective of path dependence, the policy is strengthened by increasing returns. From the perspective of dynamic mechanism, the interaction between key nodes and policy stakeholders promotes policy development. In the new era, the future development of China's public health emergency policy should grasp the key nodes of institutional change, enrich the policy system, improve the social participation mechanism, and encourage emergency technical innovation, and then realize the comprehensive improvement of China's public health emergency response capacity.

The arrival of Ukrainian refugees as an opportunity to advance migrant integration policy

ABSTRACT The Czech Republic has received the largest number of Ukrainian refugees per capita. An underdeveloped migrant integration policy and limited experience with large numbers of refugees hampered the Czechs’ willingness to help. The reception phase relied heavily on crisis teams, volunteers, and civil society organizations. Accommodating structural measures became necessary. This article takes a closer look at these changes and explains how the large number of Ukrainian refugees constitutes an “external shock” that has shaped Czech migrant integration policy in several key aspects. We also examine the role of international organizations in shaping migrant integration policy. We use the research framework of historical institutionalism, applying retrograde analysis, desk research and deep semi-structured interviews. Our results show that migration policy has been skewed in the short-term towards better acceptance of migrants, but we can identify a tendency towards a return to the original trajectory. We also find that international organizations have not had a substantial influence on recent changes in migrant integration policy; domestic actors have had a much greater influence.

COVID-19 Pandemic and the Establishment of the Recovery and Resilience Facility

The COVID-19 pandemic was an unprecedented exogenous shock for the European Union (EU) and its Member States, one that demanded a joint response at the EU level rather than several differentiated responses at the Member State level. As such, the pandemic crisis opened up a “window of opportunity” for institutional change in the EU’s financial assistance regime. This change pertains to the development of a set of rules governing the disbursement and withdrawal of funding to Member States in the context of crisis management. The paper thus aims to answer the following question: How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect the EU’s financial assistance regime? Drawing on a revisited historical institutionalist framework that allows for the examination of different types of institutional development, the paper argues that the COVID-19 pandemic constitutes a “critical juncture” for the EU's financial assistance regime, resulting in a shift from intergovernmental coordination (with the European Stability Mechanism) to a form of limited supranational delegation (with the Recovery and Resilience Facility).

Theories behind Change of Land Expropriation Institutions in Cross-Strait: An Analysis from Historical Institutionalism Approach

Rapid urbanization in developing countries has led to an increasing demand for urban construction land. As a result, many farmers’ lands have been expropriated by local governments, exacerbating the imbalance between land supply and demand. This issue is particularly pronounced in Chinese Mainland, where land expropriation institutions have operated at a suboptimal level for an extended period. While existing research has explored the current practices and potential avenues for the optimization of the horizontal aspects of land expropriation institutions in Chinese Mainland, there remains a dearth of academic inquiry from a historical developmental and comparative analytical perspective. To address this gap, this article uses the analytical framework of historical institutionalism and combines it with the comparison case method and in-depth interviews to analyze the fundamental path, logic, and dynamic mechanism behind land expropriation institutional change in Cross-Strait and provide insights for similar developing countries. Research shows that Cross-Strait land expropriation institutions have gone through five different stages of development, and finally evolved in the direction of narrowing the scope of expropriation and increasing the compensation for expropriation. Cross-Strait land expropriation institutions show a triple logic in terms of change types, change paths, and change processes: in terms of change types, there are compulsory changes and mutual games between induced factors and actors pushing for compulsory changes; in terms of change paths, there are patterns of displacement, drift, conversion, and layering; and in terms of gradual change processes, path dependence characteristics become apparent within Cross-Strait land expropriation institutions. The synergistic interaction among the institutional milieu, ideas, and actors constitutes the dynamic mechanisms for the change of land expropriation institutions in Cross-Strait.

The impact of self-reinforcing and self-undermining policy feedback on Mexican social policy: the end of the conditional cash transfer programme

The conditional cash transfer programme (CCT) for poor families was terminated in Mexico in 2019. CCTs seek to fight poverty under a social investment logic by promoting the formation of human capital through the compliance of behavioural conditionalities. The programme – the first of its kind introduced at national level – accomplished several achievements and was maintained and developed by three successive federal administrations. As the backbone of anti-poverty policy for more than two decades, its achievements included delivering positive results to a significant proportion of the population; and triggering the expansion of social policy beyond social insurance. As a result, it was emulated by governments across the globe. A programme of these characteristics would have been expected to generate path dependency and policy stability, yet it was swiftly terminated with practically no opposition. This article applies a framework of historical institutionalism to analyse the feedback effects developed during the duration of the programme from the perspectives of beneficiaries, in order to contribute to the explanation of its termination. The research is based on qualitative empirical data from interviews with former beneficiaries. Our findings show that self-undermining mechanisms linked to a ‘hard’ design and implementation of conditionalities counterbalanced the self-reinforcing mechanisms derived from the benefits supplied by the programme, causing beneficiaries to become apathetic towards its continuity or termination. Conclusions yield theoretical insights that might serve to examine policy feedback in similar contexts, as well as lessons for policymakers regarding the design and implementation of social programmes.

Promoting Peace and Impunity? Amnesty Laws after War in El Salvador and beyond

Abstract Amnesty laws are a widespread practice in the transition from war to peace. They often aim at the transformation of violent conflict by making promises about exemptions from liability for war crimes. Critics argue that amnesties are in violation of international law and reproduce impunity in post-war societies, whereas supporters of amnesty laws focus on their peace-promoting features. Previous research has extensively looked into the second aspect, and found that amnesty laws can open the door to negotiations and a short-term termination of civil war. The question of impunity, however, has not been answered extensively. Applying a Historical Institutionalist framework, we assess the impact of the adoption of amnesty laws on societal impunity, defined as any person or group being exempt from punishment or free from the injurious consequences of an action. Case-study evidence from El Salvador shows that amnesty laws are reproducing existing power relations and thus inhibit profound reforms. With the help of amnesty laws, an institutional environment will be created that acts in the favor of involved parties for years, if not decades. We subsequently test these qualitative findings with a newly created dataset on post-war justice sector governance and reform across forty different post-war countries worldwide from 1990 to 2016, and with societal, police, and military impunity as dependent variables. Statistical evidence shows that amnesty laws significantly correlate with higher levels of impunity in a country. A peace agreement, or democracy at the end of war, reduces the risk of impunity even with amnesty laws present.

Evolyuciya politiki shkol'nogo fizicheskogo obrazovaniya v Kitae s tochki zreniya istoricheskogo institucionalizma

This article identifies the evolution, characteristics, and driving factors in school physical education in China from the analytical framework of historical institutionalism. The research methods and analytical paradigms of historical institutionalism can help to understand the historical changes in school physical education policies, adjust andformulate school physical education policies at present, and shape their development in thefuture.

Understanding the Socialist-Market Economy in Vietnam

The economic reform started in 1986 has transformed Vietnam from one of the world’s poorest countries 35 years ago to a lower middle-income country (MIC) in 2010. Poverty rates dropped from 70% in 1986 to below 2% in 2021. The transition from a central planning system to a socialist market economy is the fundamental underlying factor of Vietnam's success. Using the historical institutional framework that Lee (2018) [1] developed, this study aims to explore the country’s transition from a central planning system to a socialist market economy over the past three decades. The findings demonstrate that the country’s transition to a socialist market economy has been taking a gradualism and dualism path like China. In addition, the study also illustrates how the economic reform and globalization processes pushed the institutional transformation in Vietnam to meet the demands of multiple economic sectors and ownerships as well as accommodate international commitments that the country entered. Finally, Vietnam has been cautious in its political reform over the past few decades. Yet, this is inevitable as a result of the country’s socio-economic development process as well as the global and regional rapid changing context. The implications for Vietnam include: (i) Vietnam needs to transform its growth model toward a knowledge-based, higher-added-value, and more environmentally-friendly pattern; (ii) while there is significant progress in institutional transformation, bottlenecks and challenges remain. This should be addressed effectively to unlock the country’s potential; (iii) political system reform is inevitable as conditions are mature. Domestic demands and international requirements are putting increasing pressure on the changes. However, this process will likely move forward and take place within the political system rather than by civil society or outsiders. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2022-06-05-03 Full Text: PDF

Using a Historical Institutionalism Perspective to Examine Chinese Foundations’ Development Characteristics From the 1980s to 2017

This paper adopted a historical institutionalist framework to identify the major developmental stages of Chinese foundations that were established from the 1980s onward and examined their emergence and evolution. By examining primary and secondary data, and conducing statistical analysis results, this study demonstrates Chinese foundations’ developmental characteristics from 2008 to 2017. The emergence of public fundraising foundations (PFFs) has followed in the wake of the developmental path of such foundations; the government’s intention has been to use them to supplement the functions of administrative departments. Subsequent developments demonstrate that there was a stronger relationship between the working model of each PFF and the developmental direction of the entire foundation in relationship to previous developments regarding the state. Such foundations have increased rapidly since 2004, and interactions of foundations with grassroots NGOs started in 2008. However, later interactions with grassroots NGOs did not have a transformative effect on the operation of these foundations. This study’s findings reveal that, in China, government-affiliated foundations formulated their own approaches for fundraising and for creating and using operating models; furthermore, right from the early stages, Chinese foundations excluded grassroots NGOs from their operating mechanisms.

The politics of referendum rules: Evidence from New Zealand (1893–2016)

AbstractDespite widespread concerns about the manipulation of government‐initiated referendums, there has been little consideration of the long‐term effects of these institutional changes. Using a historical institutionalist framework, I examine two long‐standing processes of gradual institutional change in New Zealand: the serial referendum and the two‐stage referendum. Cabinet documents, parliamentary speeches, and previous analyses reveal that governments change referendums in unique ways depending on the political circumstances, including precedents set by earlier referendums. Once set in motion, these processes of gradual institutional change can fundamentally transform the functional qualities of the referendum over time. This article suggests that avoiding conceptions of referendums as discrete events can help clarify the challenges and potentials to democratizing popular votes.Related ArticlesLachapelle, Erick, Thomas Bergeron, Richard Nadeau, Jean‐François Daoust, Ruth Dassonneville, and Éric Bélanger. 2021. “Citizens' Willingness to Support New Taxes for COVID‐19 Measures and the Role of Trust.” Politics & Policy 49(3): 534–65. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12404Pierson, Chris, and Louise Humpage. 2016. “Coming Together or Drifting Apart? Income Maintenance in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.” Politics & Policy 44(2): 261–93. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12150Silagadze, Nanuli. 2021. “Abortion Referendums: Is There a Recipe for Success?” Politics & Policy 49(2): 352–89. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12398

Power, production and disorder: The decline of Sweden’s housing industrial complex and the origins of the present housing discontents

It is often assumed in housing and urban studies scholarship that the roots of Sweden’s present housing discontents are to be found in a neoliberal ‘system switch’ following the early-1990s banking crisis. This paper offers a different account, identifying and expounding how insuperable contradictions in Sweden’s complex of housing production, distribution and finance, from the 1970s onward, led to a marked deterioration in its much-lauded housing model. Advancing a historical institutionalist framework, the paper seeks to historically couch the processes and outcomes commonly associated with the contemporary neoliberal era and position them more concretely in relation to actors and their social relations through time. Using a range of data pertaining to housing finance, subsidies, house prices and building output, as part of a mixed-methods analysis, the paper explores how macroeconomic factors, mediated by interactions between the state and sectoral cleavages, influence urban and regional development aspects. The paper’s conceptual and methodological relevance to housing and urban studies scholarship thus extends beyond Sweden.

Members of the Polish Language Council on the Problems of Linguistic Diversity and Linguistic Inclusion in Poland

The last couple of decades have brought a significant increase in personal movement from and to Poland. In consequence, it is very probable that the issues of linguistic diversity and linguistic inclusion more and more frequently will become subjects of multi-level and multi-institutional discussion reshaping the Polish public sphere. It is a matter of consideration which institutions will take leading positions in this debate, formulating main narratives and polemics. However, answering its advisory and opinion-making responsibilities, the Polish Language Council may be expected as one among the crucial actors in this discourse. The article presents pivotal attitudes of the Council’s members referring to the problem of linguistic diversity and linguistic inclusion in Poland. The presentation of the sources is combined with endeavours to answer the question: Do these materials allow considering the Council as a strong candidate for an essential designer of incoming public debate on linguistic diversity and linguistic inclusion in Poland? The research is conducted concerning the main assumptions of Joshua Fishman’s (1997) sociology of language and Harold Schiffman’s (2006) analysis of language policies as parts of linguistic cultures. Moreover, the methodological foundation of the text is supported by a general theoretical framework of historical institutionalism, and finally by Peter M. Haas’s conceptualisation of 'epistemic community.'

Theorizing institutional change and governance in European responses to the Covid-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT After initial responses that appeared to be a disappointing replay of previous crises, EU governance in the Covid-19 crisis may very well result in paradigmatic change toward deeper European integration in some areas, incremental change in others, or even reversal toward dis-integration in yet others. It is therefore important to evaluate what changed in terms of policies and who governed in what ways during the pandemic. This concluding article does so by building on the other articles in this SI. It first sheds light on policy change during the crisis using a historical institutionalist framework, then on governance by asking which EU actors, intergovernmental or supranational, drove integration and how, using rational choice and discursive institutionalist frameworks. Finally, it also considers the effects of post-functionalist politicization to elucidate the more positive dynamics of interaction among EU actors during the pandemic, in contrast to the Eurozone.